sehepunkte 9 (2009), Nr. 7/8

Éric Schnakenbourg: La France, le Nord et l'Europe au début du XVIIIe siècle

Voltaire probably still introduces most readers of French to the history of the Nord - the Scandinavian countries, Russia, and all the German, Polish and Baltic towns and principalities that surround the Baltic Sea - in the early Eighteenth Century. His Histoire de Charles XII and Histoire de la Russie sous Pierre le Grand are not only entertaining classics of Enlightenment historiography that reflect Voltaire's intense interest in the potential for monarchs to do good or ill but also reflect a rare interest in a region that has not been central to French historical writing.

Éric Schnakenbourg contributes not only to the francophone literature on the political history of this neglected region, but also substantially increases our understanding of the broader European politics of the early eighteenth century and the processes of diplomacy and diplomatic culture. Drawing upon extensive archival sources in the French Archives des Affaires Étrangères, Archives Nationales, and Bibliothèque nationale, the Swedish Riksarkivet, and the Public Record Office, as well as French, English, Swedish, and German printed sources, and literature, Schnakenbourg untangles the complex relations between France and the Northern countries, above all Sweden, during the great Northern War from 1702 to 1721.

The monograph is structured in two parts: the first is a relatively straightforward narrative of diplomatic events - but consider "relatively straightforward" as high words of praise for a clear account of particularly complex series of events, involving not only the dynamics of French politics during the War of the Spanish succession, the death of Louis XIV and the regency, but the eccentric course of Charles XII and the chaos it caused in the east. This narrative is not reducible to structural components, but there are a few prominent forces that shaped the changing relations amongst France and the northern kingdoms. During Louis XIV's reign, the Thirty Years War haunted the memories of French statesmen, who consistently hoped to enlist Charles XII and his formidable army in the War of the Spanish Succession in the same manner as Louis XIII had Gustavus Adolphus'. Despite Charles XII's reluctance and then, following the loss of his army at Poltava, inability to do so, the French still attempted to use Sweden as a check on the power of the Empire, and to restore its place as a guarantor of the Peace of Westphalia.

The Regency initially attempted to incite the Swedes to assist the Jacobite rebellion of 1715 - Schnakenbourg's account of this episode should enlighten British historians - but then after the alliance with Britain in 1716 changed the dynamics of French relations with Sweden. The Regency attempted to find a peace that would establish a balance of power in the Baltic by reconciling Hanoverian conflicts with Prussia and saving Sweden from Russian conquest and even preserving, somehow, France's ally's role in the Westphalian settlement by restoring its possession of Pomerania. While the English viewed Russia's rise as the principal problem during the negotiations over the 1721 Peace of Nystad, French statesmen were not as worried by the rise of Russia as they were by the prospect of Sweden no longer being able to serve its role in the Empire.

The second part shifts from narrative of diplomatic events to more synchronic analysis of factors that shaped diplomacy; this section reflects more obviously the interests of the "new diplomatic history" as elaborated by such scholars as Lucien Bély. Schnakenbourg begins with a prosopographic account of French diplomats: French diplomatic personnel did not eagerly seek out posts in the cold, rude, and hard-drinking North. They can be divided into two types: ambassadors who had begun their careers in the military and had either served in missions in Germany or another central European court. Their embassies tended to be relatively short, and could serve as stepping stones to posts in more congenial climates. The residents, however, began their careers as ambassadorial secretaries and their residencies in the North could last for decades: Jean Baptiste Poussin, resident in Copenhagen and Hamburg, served from 1702 until 1749, just short of half a century.

Schnakenbourg proceeds to analyze the cultural influences on French diplomacy in the North, with "cultural" here meaning the motives that induced particular configurations of diplomatic performance. After discussing the continuing influence of a vision of politics developed under Louis XIV, he turns to the role of commerce in France's relations with both Sweden and Russia. Trade policy was not simply or even primarily shaped by French domestic politics, commercial aspirations, or fiscal needs - though these did complicate other factors - but rather formulated to respond to the demands on relations with the Northern Crown or the maritime powers. Even when French statesmen acted concertedly to foster trade, such as in profiting from the opening of Russia, the preferential treaties and commercial prominence of the maritime powers made it difficult for France to profit.

He concludes his analysis of culture with two chapters that analyze how France reacted to the rise of Russia as a great power. The first begins by sketching the histories, cosmographies and travel books that served to shape French views of Russia, covering similar territory as the un-cited Marshall Poe's A People born to Slavery. This material predisposed French statesmen to accept Swedish propaganda about Russia, colored perceptions of Peter I's famous visit to France, and ultimately made it difficult to readjust to Russia's rise of power. Schnakenbourg does not, unfortunately, provide a parallel analysis of the place of Sweden in French thought, although that too shaped French foreign policy.

Schnakenbourg's analysis of France's policy in the Great Northern War uses detailed archival research to further answer the new questions historians have been asking about early modern diplomacy. His results will interest and delight historians of early modern diplomacy, France, and Scandinavia. It should also attract cultural historians, interested in the broader contexts of enlightened culture. In addition to its other merits, the work suggests that Voltaire's works on the North revealed his sense for timely publications as an occasion for political reflection.